Professors and students aren't the only ones whose workloads will increase when classes start next week.
Between making lesson plans, grading, holding office hours and monitoring students in laboratory courses, UNM's teaching assistants will be back to work around the clock.
Laura L. Burton, Communication and Journalism teaching assistant, said her work doesn't end when class does.
When not at the podium, the public speaking instructor develops creative learning activities for her students, responds to student questions through e-mail, makes sure graded papers and speeches have helpful feedback and makes time to be available for students who have questions about class material.
Isaac Acker, a Chemistry TA, said he graded about 200 quizzes a month last semester, along with assignments. He also has the added responsibility of ensuring students' safety in the laboratory classes he teaches.
"(I make) sure the students don't blow themselves up or cut themselves and (troubleshoot) things when something goes wrong," he said.
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Julian Camarena, a Physics TA, said he teaches labs and grades homework assignments for an upper-division course on electricity and magnetism. He said he tries to make it to school as early as possible every day, because he needs all the time he can get.
Besides being accessible to students, Camarena is also working on his graduate studies.
"Graduate TAs are still required to take a full course load, which is six credit hours. It may not seem like much, but, at times, it can be too much," he said.
Burton said taking classes and working as a TA makes life difficult.
"In addition to all of the (teaching work), I try to get my graduate studies done," she said. "It is a challenge to balance everything, especially for TAs who really care about doing an outstanding job as an instructor.ˇI think that some just fill the square for their funding."
Acker said he works hard as an instructor and hates to see students who don't respond with similar energy.
"The students who don't put in any effort are hard to deal with," he said. "They try to get by with a minimum amount of work, which is something I know I tried to do when I was an undergrad, so I can understand that, but it doesn't really endear them to the TA at all, or the professor for that matter."
Camarena said TAs also have to learn how to effectively communicate course material to students.
"A TA has to learn to organize thoughts before saying them. That's harder than it sounds," he said. "It takes some practice to learn how to explain physics at a level that accommodates everybody. It is probably impossible to be able to communicate well to everybody in the class, but if the lecture clicks for a large portion of the students, then that's a pretty good job."
Acker said he teaches because he wants to help students understand what they don't think they can.
"The reason why I tried teaching is going for that moment where that confused student is trying really hard and finally gets it," he said. "That 'aha' moment, where they finally understand some new concepts or some proper way to work a problem, where you can actually see real learning taking place. That's my favorite part of teaching."
Several TAs said there are other benefits to the job. Camarena said teaching at a university is a good way to prepare for doctoral studies.
"This gives the opportunity to teach at a higher level - there is a huge difference between being the TA for a course and being the principal lecturer - but for most of us the main draw is doing research," he said.
Christine Chin, who graduated with a master's in December, said the experience she received as a TA at UNM helped her get a job right out of school. She is now a professor at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y.
"UNM's TA program was one of the reasons I chose to come to UNM as a grad student, and it paid off for me in a very competitive academic job market," she said.
